Project Shadow
by Zoe Blade
Summary: Three new cyborgs are rescued, but there are some strange things about them; one can fly like Jet can, one has no memory of her past, and one knows something about a project that involves the three of them...and six others. Mainly 004XOC but it has a fair amount of 004X002. My first fanfic so please read.
1. Chapter 1

Project Shadow

Ch. 1

* * *

As the Dolphin left the destroyed remains of Black Ghost's stronghold, Jet leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Man, am I glad he's gone."

"I agree." GB replied. "Now we can finally relax without having to worry about going on another dangerous mission that might get us killed."

Suddenly, a message blasted through the ship's communication. The voice that came through was a young teenage boy with a small tinge of a Hispanic sound to it. "Hello? Hello, can anybody hear me?"

"Oh, give it up, Carlos." said another boy with a bit of a Russian sound in his voice. "You've been trying at that thing for hours, if no one has responded yet what makes you think someone will now?"

"Be quiet, and let me work, Dimitri. Is there anyone receiving this transmission? Please, we need help."

"We're receiving you loud and clear." Joe replied. "What's your status?"

"Wha-? Did someone actually just respond?!" the Russian voice said.

"Ha! I told you I knew what I was doing." The Hispanic voice said.

"I guess I owe you ten rubles."

"Quiet, flyboy, I still have work to do. Who am I talking to here? Identify yourself."

"This is 009 on board the Dolphin." Joe answered. "Why do you two need help?"

"'Dolphin'?!" the Russian voice snickered. "What kind of crazy ship name is 'The Dolphin'?! Ow! Carlos, what did you do that for?!"

"_Ay caramba_." The Hispanic voice, Carlos, groaned. "Don't mind Dimitri, 009, he respects no one but himself. Before I answer your question, I have one more to ask you; is there anyone else on board your ship?"

"Yes there is." Joe said.

"How many?"

"More importantly," the Russian voice, Dimitri, began, "do any of them have fighting experience?"

"Yeah, most of us do." GB answered.

"Define 'most of us'." Carlos said.

"Why should we?" Jet demanded.

"Humor me."

"Nine of us, counting myself." Joe answered before Jet disconnected the communication. "002, what are you doing?!"

"I'd ask you the same thing, 009!" Jet replied angrily. "This transmission could be a ruse; they keep saying that they need help, but they won't say why! What if it's a trap!?"

"And what if it's not, Jet?" Albert replied. "They may need our help."

"Albert, we don't even know why they need help!"

"Then let 009 resume the communication."

After a moment of hesitation, Jet reluctantly agreed to let Joe reconnect the transmission.

"-Broke it, didn't you?!" Dimitri complained.

"I didn't break anything this time." Carlos said. "009, can you hear me?"

"I'm still here." Joe answered.

"I'd ask you what happened, but I think we're running low on time, so listen carefully. It's obvious that you know who Black Ghost is so I won't go into details about him. But I will tell you that the two of us are prisoners at what the soldiers and scientists here call the Testing Grounds."

"This place isn't used for tests," Dimitri scoffed, "it's used for torture!"

"He's right; we've been here for almost seven months, and so far they've electrocuted us till we can't move, gassed us till we get sick, and bombarded us with high sonic frequencies till we pass out! But that much we can handle, the problem is that I overheard a soldier say something about a final treatment that will solve the reason we were brought here. I don't know what this 'final treatment' is, but after what I've been through here, I'd rather not find out. Ow! What?!"

"Trouble." Dimitri whispered.

"Wha- oh, now I see."

"Hey," Jet began, "what's happening?!"

"_Un momento, por favor_."

Soon after, there was a sound of footsteps approaching and then there was a third voice; a much older voice said, "Alright you two, get moving!"

"So, what's the 'treatment' today?"Carlos asked. "Shock? Gas? Sonic?"

"Is it the Arena?" Dimitri asked excitedly. "Please say it's the Arena."

"Don't worry," a fourth voice said, "you'll find out soo-wait, what's that there?"

"What's what?" Carlos said with a nervous tinge in his voice.

"That thing, over there!"

"N-nothing. It-its nothing." he replied, nervous tone in his voice growing.

"It looks like a transmitter!"

Suddenly, there was a loud commotion, followed by two strange shots and two bodies hitting the ground.

"_Caramba_." Carlos wheezed.

"When I regain feeling in my legs, soldier boy," Dimitri growled, "I am going to kill you!"

"I'm afraid you won't get that chance." The first soldier replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Carlos groaned. "What are you going to do to us?"

"You're about to find out." The second soldier said. "Destroy that transmitter and take them to the final treatment."

"Get your hands off me!" Dimitri yelled.

"Somebody," Carlos said, "HEEEELLLP!"

Then the communication went to static.

"Trap or not, something is definitely wrong over there." Joe said to Jet who seemed to be lost in thought.

"I have a lock on their location." Francoise said.

"Set a course; 004, 006. 007, you and I will go in and get them out."

"I'm coming too." Jet replied as everyone looked at him stunned. Joe wanted to argue with him, but since he knew full well that there was no changing his mind once it was made up, Joe agreed to let Jet come. Later, Albert found the young American in the Dolphin's break-room. "Considering you don't trust those two, I'm a little surprised you decided to come with us, Jet." He said. The teenager remained silent. "Why did you?" The German then asked.

After a moment, Jet answered, "During that huge commotion, I heard what I think sounded like my jets firing. There is something those two aren't telling us, I know it, but I don't know what it is!"

Sensing his agitation growing, Albert placed his hand on Jet's shoulder to try and calm him down. "Don't worry," he said, "We'll find out together."

Jet looked deep into Albert's pale blue eyes, and then he finally smiled and nodded at his oldest and dearest friend.

To be continued

* * *

Well, there's the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. Don't worry; there will be more action in the next chapter. Also, this is my first fanfic, so go easy on the comments.


	2. Chapter 2

Project Shadow Ch 2

like I said, plenty more action in this one. Enjoy.

* * *

"You know, for a Black Ghost test facility, this place isn't that well guarded." GB said as he knocked out another guard. The others knew he was right; when they arrived, there were almost no guards outside and inside the soldiers were very scattered.

"Nonetheless, we should still stay alert; they could be expecting us." Albert said before looking over at Jet, who still looked uneasy. "Still thinking about what you heard?" he asked.

"Of course I am, but there's something else that's bothering me, Albert." Jet explained.

"What?"

"Those two know about Black Ghost, and they knew we do too; this proves even more that they're hiding something, but I still don't know what!"

Making sure that the others weren't watching, Albert placed his arm around Jet's shoulder to comfort the upset teen. "I told you already," the German said as he pulled Jet closer to him. "We'll find out together, Jet."

Slowly, Jet started to relax, but the feeling was short lived. Suddenly, from up ahead, there came a loud explosion followed by alarms blaring all across the Testing Grounds. Following his instincts, Jet tore himself away from Albert and bolted ahead of the cyborgs in front of him.

"002 come back here!" Joe yelled. But Jet didn't listen to him. He wasn't sure how, but he knew his answers were ahead at wherever that explosion came from. Then, just as the young American reached the end of the corridor, something slammed into his left side with enough force to knock both over. When the others saw Jet hit the ground, they rushed over to help and found a young, 18 year old boy with reddish-brown hair, dark green eyes, and light skin lying on top of him. He was wearing a blue uniform with four large red buttons and had a long red scarf around his neck

"Hey, why don't you watch where you're going, you runt?!" Jet growled.

"Big talk coming from someone like you, toucan-beak!" the boy said, his voice sounding strangely familiar. But Jet was more focused on the insult he was given as he drew back his fist to punch him.

"There you are flyboy." A second voice said. The team looked over and saw a 19 year old boy with black hair, brown eyes, and tan skin wearing the same uniform. "Are you alright, Dimitri?" He asked as he pulled the red haired boy off Jet.

"I will be as soon as I pummel the _pridurok_ who ran into me!" He growled.

"'Dimitri?'" Joe exclaimed. "You're Carlos, right?"

"009 I presume." Carlos replied. "And might I ask who your friends are?"

"This is 004, 007, and 006. And the one Dimitri ran into is 002."

"Wait, this _pridurok_ is part of the rescue team?" Dimitri said. "We're doomed!"

"What is a _pridurok_, anyway?" Chang asked.

"It's Russian." Carlos explained. "Roughly translated, it means 'moron'."

"OK, THAT does it!" Jet yelled. "You want some, prison boy?!"

"Bring it on, bird-nose!" Dimitri replied as he lowered into a fighting position.

"Guys, cut it out!" Joe said.

"I agree." Carlos said. "Let's get out of here first, and then you two can settle your differences, _si_?"

"Fine." They both replied.

"Well this is going to end badly." Albert murmured.

Suddenly, another explosion came from the direction that the two boys were running from, followed by approaching footsteps.

"We'll have to save the rest of the pleasantries for later." Carlos said in a hurry. "Right now we have to move. _Vamonose_!"

"Oh, come on," GB began, "we barely ran into any soldiers on the way in, how many could there possibly be?"

"_Da_, the reason there were so few guards is because most of them were waiting to watch us get tortured!" Dimitri replied.

Then as if to prove his point, dozens of soldiers came from every direction and surrounded the group with their weapons aimed at them.

"Anything we should be aware of?" Joe asked.

"Don't get hit by their weapons," Carlos answered. "You won't like the effects that follow."

"Well that's easy enough." Jet said.

"Have you noticed the position we're in?" Dimitri yelled. "There's no way we're all getting out of this unscathed, hose-nose!"

"Hey, Russian boy," Albert said, "shut up, and leave him alone! Besides, we've gotten out of worse situations before."

"How can we possibly get out of this alive?!"

"Like this." Joe said as he switched on his accelerator and knocked the soldier's weapons out of their hands. As he came out of his acceleration mode, Albert took up his machine gun hand and opened fire at the ground in front of the soldiers blocking the way the team had come in, forcing them to move aside. At the same time, GB transformed into a lion, gave a loud roar, and scared off the remaining soldiers. Dimitri stared at the cyborgs in clear shock, but Carlos, not missing a beat, said, "Well that answers several questions, so once again, I say it; _vamonose_!"

And with that, the group made a break for the exit. A short time later, Dimitri spoke up, this time he sounded a little worried. "Uh, guys," he said looking over his shoulder. "I hate to be the _nositelem plokhie novosti_, but-"

"The what?" GB interrupted.

"'Bearer of bad news'." Carlos translated.

"How is it a Mexican can understand Russian?"

"I'm not from Mexico; I'm from Spain!"

"-We're being followed!" Dimitri finished.

The team turned around and sure enough, a group of soldiers was chasing them.

"My turn." Chang said as he inhaled deeply and blew out a wall of fire, blocking the soldiers' path.

"Not bad." Carlos said. "But that's not going to keep them away forever."

"Leave that to me." Albert replied smugly.

"How?!" Dimitri yelled. "Unless you have a bazooka up your sleeve, we're doomed!"

"Well, it's not up my sleeve." He chuckled as he opened up the missile launcher in his knee.

"Wait," Carlos said a concerned look on his face, "shouldn't there be seven of us; because I count only six."

Albert looked around and to his horror Jet was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, there was the sound of a scuffle from the other side of the flames. Soon after, Jet came flying through the flames; as he landed, Jet collapsed onto his knees, breathing heavily. Once he had landed, Albert fired a round of missiles at the ceiling, causing large amounts of debris to fall, keeping the soldiers from getting to them, and then rushed to the young American's side. "Jet, what happened? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine; one of those guards jumped me." Jet answered.

"Now that we're all here and well," Dimitri said, "can you explain _kak vy eto sdelali_?"

"What?" Joe asked.

"He's asking how you did that." Carlos replied. "And you already know the answer, Dimitri; they're cyborgs."

"Hey, how do you know we're cyborgs?" GB asked. "And again, how is it you can understand Russian?"

"Your names are a dead giveaway, and I'm fluent in ten languages. Can we leave now _por favor_?"

"I agree;" Joe replied. "Let's get out of here before they clear away that rubble."

As the group got closer to the exit, Carlos suddenly stopped a look of both shock and horror in his eyes. "What are you stopping for?!" Dimitri yelled. "We're almost out of here!"

"We forgot something." Carlos answered.

"What could we have possibly forgotten?!"

"Whatever's in Bunker 14!"

At which point, Dimitri's eyes widened in horror and his face turned as pale as a sheet. "H-how did we forget about Bunker 14?" he trembled.

"What's Bunker 14?" Albert asked.

"It's a testing bay in this facility." Carlos answered. "Unfortunately, we don't know much else about it."

"Then what's so important about it?" Jet said.

The looks on both their faces were never more serious than they were before that moment. "When the scientists aren't working on us, they're working on whatever's in Bunker 14." Carlos replied grimly. "We may not know what's in there, but from what we've been able to piece together, it's probably a weapon, and definitely lethal."

"To put it simple," Dimitri added, "we need to get to Bunker 14, and take care of whatever is in there, now!"

"Do you know where it is?" Joe asked.

"_Da_, we pass it going to and from our daily torturing."

"Hold on," Jet began, "we just got ourselves out of trouble, 009, now you want to put us back in trouble on a hunch?"

"What's the matter, _pridurok_?" Dimitri taunted. "Too scared of what you'll find if you go?"

Jet then grabbed Dimitri by his uniform collar and pulled his fist back to punch him. "Go ahead and punch me." The young Russian continued. "It'll just prove I'm right."

Jet stayed frozen in his position for several moments, glaring at Dimitri, before finally answering. "Just show me where Bunker 14 is so we can get out of here." He growled. "But if this is a trap, I will break your nose like a piece of glass, you rotten Russki bastard!"

And with that, Jet shoved Dimitri into the wall and started to walk away from the group.

"Uh, 002 is aware that he has no idea where Bunker 14 is, right?" Carlos asked as he helped Dimitri onto his feet.

"Don't worry about him; he just needs some space." Albert replied. "Besides, once Jet realizes he has no clue where he's going, he'll come back here."

"In all honesty, I can't believe you took 002 calling you that, Dimitri." Chang said.

"Eh, I've been called worse." He grumbled.

"You're like a 002 whisperer! How did you do that?!" GB said in shock.

"I know a street boy when I see one. And street boys hate being called chickens."

"Are we going to find Bunker 14 or not?" Jet complained as he rejoined the group.

Carlos and Dimitri exchanged looks, nodded, and both said to the cyborgs, "Follow us."

* * *

Despite having to take several detours to avoid soldiers, the group finally found a large door with the number 14 above it.

"So, how are we going to get in there?" Jet said.

"That's where the trick comes in;" Dimitri began. "We're looking at a DNA recognition system on a fire proof, bullet proof, laser proof, and blast proof door with a super strong magnetic lock."

"Wow, they really don't want whatever's in there to get out." Chang said.

"So, how do we get in?" GB asked.

"Get out of my way, and stand back." Carlos said as he walked up to the door. Everyone did so, Dimitri stood back strangely farther than the others. As Carlos touched the door, it started vibrating. Then it started to make a strange groaning sound. No sooner did it start making that sound, the young Spaniard ran away from the door, yelling, "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

Suddenly, the door leading into Bunker 14 seemingly self-detonated, sending shrapnel flying everywhere that would have killed a normal person. As the smoke cleared, the team saw Carlos standing there as if nothing happened; the only one who didn't look at him in complete shock was Dimitri, who just walked up to him and said, "Now that you've had your fun, can we please get this over with; I'd like to leave this place sometime today."

Before anyone could ask what Carlos just did, however, a large barrage of laser fire came down on the group. Fortunately, everyone was able to get out of the way in time.

"_Chert poberi_, now what?!" Dimitri complained.

"Looks like a security system." Carlos said, glancing inside.

"One that _you_ set off!" Jet yelled.

"How was I supposed to know that would happen?"

"Jet, this is no time to be pointing fingers!" Albert said.

"He's right, 002." Joe said. "We right now need to get past those lasers."

"Leave that to me." Dimitri said.

"Are you sure about this?" Carlos asked, grabbing Dimitri's arm.

"You've already had your fun; now it's my turn." He said as he yanked his arm away from Carlos.

"_Llamo a ti mismo a_." Carlos sighed.

"Carlos, I speak only English and Russian; not Spanish!"

"I said, 'knock yourself out'."

"Oh I wouldn't count on it." And with that, Dimitri jumped into the air and literally started flying into the laser fire; dodging and flying over, under, and around blasts, causing them to hit each other, all the while cursing in Russian. At the same time, the team could do nothing but stare at the flying teen, surprised. Jet, however, was more focused on what he heard than on what he saw; it was the same sound he heard over the transmission. It didn't take Albert long to figure out why Jet was trembling the way he was. The German placed his hand on the teenager's shoulder and said, "Well at least you got your answer."

"Yeah, but now so many more questions are brought up." Jet replied.

"Take it easy, Jet, you'll…we'll have our answers soon."

After a moment, Jet looked back at Albert and, after making sure that no one was watching, he smiled and nodded. As he landed, Dimitri sighed and said, "That was easier than I thought. Well, shall we?"

"_Vamonose_." Carlos said.

"I'm not taking one step until you two explain what you just did!" Chang said.

"For once, I agree with him!" GB said.

"How did you guys do that?" Joe asked.

"You're kidding, right?" Carlos said, smirking. "You can move impossibly fast, 006 breathes fire, 002 can fly like Dimitri can, 007 can transform into I'm guessing anything, and 004 is a walking arsenal, and you're asking how we did that?"

"Wait, you guys are cyborgs?!" Jet said.

"The scientists here call me 0015 and they call Dimitri 0022."

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Albert asked.

"We thought you already knew; why else would we be in a Black Ghost test facility?" Dimitri answered. "Now, can we please finish up here; the sooner we leave the Testing Grounds, the better I'll sleep at night"

"I'm afraid things just got _muy_ complicated; look." Carlos said, pointing inside. The group looked inside and saw large pieces of machinery and at the end of the room, in the center of it all, was a cryogenic pod…containing a young girl.

To be continued

* * *

Well, there's Chapter 2, finally uploaded. Again, this is my first fanfic, so go easy on the comments. Also, while it's still on my mind, I apologize if i used any OC's that someone else has used in the past; I thought they were original before I looked through the other fanfics online.


	3. Chapter 3

Project Shadow Ch 3

Finally uploaded. Sorry it took so long. Enjoy!

* * *

The group looked in total shock at the girl in the cryogenic pod. She looked 13 years old, had long, brown hair, and lightly tanned skin, and was wearing the same blue uniform with the four large red buttons and long red scarf as Carlos and Dimitri.

"_Caramba_." Carlos managed to finally say.

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Dimitri mused.

"Who is she?" Albert said.

Carlos walked up to the monitor next to the pod and looked it over thoroughly. "According to this," He said, "she is known as cyborg prototype number 14, code named, 0014. She looks 13, but this says she's actually 18. Aside from that, not much else."

"What do you mean, not much else?" GB asked.

"I mean almost everything else about her has been blacked out."

"Whatever the case, we have to take her with us." Joe said.

"What?!" Jet yelled. "We don't know anything about this girl and you want to help her?!"

"We can't just leave her like this, Jet, of all of us, you should know that." Albert replied, leaving Jet speechless.

"How long has she been like this, anyway?" Dimitri asked.

"Hold on, there's a date here" Carlos said looking back at the monitor. Suddenly, his eyes widened as if someone had just sucker punched him in the stomach. "_AY CARAMBA_! 1944?!" He gasped.

"What? You have to be kidding!" Dimitri yelled as he pushed Carlos out of the way to see for himself, only to find that he was right.

"As you can see, I'm not kidding." Carlos said.

"All the more reason we have to help her." Joe said.

It took a while, but the team found how to open the cryogenic pod. When the pod opened, however, 0014 didn't wake up.

"We didn't kill her, did we?" Albert said.

"I don't think so." Carlos said, looking back at the monitor. "From what I can gather, her systems are still rebooting. According to this thing, 0014 is more mechanical than she is cybernetic; it may take a while for her to fully reactivate."

"So one of us has to play pack mule until she wakes up?" GB said.

"Unfortunately, _si_."

"Well I'm sure as hell not going to do it; not unless I know more about her." Jet replied.

"Don't look at me; I prefer to stay lightweight when I fly." Dimitri said.

"Count me out." Chang said. "For all we know, she could be rigged with a bomb set to go off once she wakes up."

"I don't see anything that mentions any explosives in her." Carlos replied. "Matter of fact, this thing doesn't even mention what she does; only that all her weapons are operational. But it does mention a nickname the scientists gave her, and it makes me a little nervous."

"What do they call her?" Joe asked.

"'The Goddess of Blood'."

After a long silence, Dimitri spoke up. "Suddenly, I feel safer leaving her behind." He said with an uneasy tone.

"That's not your decision to make; she's coming with us." Joe said.

"Is there nothing that will change your mind?!"

"If you guys are done arguing, then let's go." Albert said, carrying 0014 on his back. As the group turned to leave, Dimitri noticed Carlos was still looking at the monitor; an uneasy look on his face. "Hey, Carlos," He said, getting the young Spaniard's attention, "come on, let's go!"

"Uh, r-right." Carlos said, hesitantly, as he left the monitor, something clearly on his mind.

"What's up?"

"I'll tell you later."

* * *

"If I remember correctly, the exit should be just up ahead after this next turn." Joe said.

"Finally!" Dimitri said.

"How's 0014 doing?"

"Still no change." Albert said, looking over his shoulder at the still motionless girl on his back.

"Maybe Doctor Gilmore should look at her." GB said.

"Who's Doctor Gilmore?" Carlos asked.

"Who cares; we're almost out of out of this miserable dungeon!" Dimitri said. However, as the group got to the turn, they found themselves staring down the barrels of the weapons that were being aimed at them by soldiers.

"_Caramba_, you guys give a new meaning to the phrase, 'out of the frying pan, into the fire', you know that?" Carlos murmured.

"Yeah, we've noticed." Albert said.

"I'm open for ideas if anyone has any." GB said.

"Well, in a situation like this," Dimitri said, "I tend to follow my philosophy."

"Oh no, anything but that." Carlos groaned.

"Why? What's his philosophy?" Jet asked.

"When the heat is on," Dimitri said as he got on his jets, "it's every man for himself!" With that, the young Russian flew at the soldiers, dodging their weapon fire and at the same time, knocking out as many as he could. For a long time, he seemed to be doing well, but then, one of the soldier's shots hit Dimitri in his legs, causing him to tumble to the ground. When he tried to get back on his jets again, they sputtered and shut down. Before the soldiers could fire any more shots at him, not missing a beat, Jet switched on his accelerator and pulled Dimitri out of trouble. At the same time, Chang breathed a wall of fire to separate them from the soldiers. As they came out of Jet's acceleration mode, Dimitri collapsed to the ground.

"What happened to him?" Joe said.

"His jets have been deactivated, along with both his legs." Carlos replied.

"What was in those shots?" Albert asked.

"EMP bullets. That's why I warned you not to get hit by their weapons; if you do, whatever gets hit will shut down."

"Fortunately, the effects don't last long." Dimitri groaned. "Now I have a question of my own; why would someone who hates me save me?"

"Because we still have a score to settle when we get out of here remember?" Jet answered, catching Dimitri off guard. Suddenly, more shots rang out as the soldiers fired blindly through the flames.

"Head back!" Carlos said as he slung Dimitri's arm over his shoulders and hoisted him onto his feet. "We need to retreat for cover until they cease firing!"

Afraid that she might get hit in the crossfire, Albert shifted 0014 from his back into his arms as the others headed for the turn. Unfortunately, the action slowed him down enough to get hit twice in the back. Jet looked over his shoulder and watched in horror as Albert crashed to the ground, 0014 landing farther away. As he rushed over to the German's side, Jet failed to notice that the flames separating them from the soldiers had died down enough for them to see him and to shoot out his right leg. As Jet hit the ground, Carlos yelped in surprise as he and the others were pushed into the open at gunpoint by more soldiers.

"Well, I got to admit, boys, this has to be the closest you two have gotten to escaping." The Captain said. "But, then again, you did have help."

"Don't push your luck." Dimitri growled.

"However, if I had known that transmission was sent to the 00-cyborgs, I wouldn't have interrupted it."

"Why not?" Carlos asked suspiciously.

"We've been causing a lot of trouble for the Black Ghost organization." Jet groaned as the Captain walked up to Albert's body.

"I would love more than anything to kill you all right now." He said, glaring down at the motionless German. "But I know how much trouble I'll get in if I do, so I'll make you an offer; leave the boys, and 0014, and I'll let you all go."

"No way!" Joe yelled. "Wherever we go, they go!"

"I'm glad you think that way; it gives me an excuse to keep you all here to 'assist with the experiments'. But first, get 0014 back to her cryogenic pod. And this time, make sure she stays there."

As two soldiers grabbed 0014, Jet noticed a small movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked and saw Albert trying vainly to get back on his feet. Unfortunately, the Captain saw it as well. "Don't think I've forgotten about you." He said as he pointed his gun at the German's head. Suddenly, the two soldiers carrying 0014 yelped in shock and fear as they released her and stumbled backwards. "What are you two doing?!"

"0014," one of the soldiers trembled, "she-she's awake!"

Everyone looked over and sure enough, the once unconscious girl was getting on her feet. As she stood up 0014 took a deep breath and looked at the Captain with her brown eyes.

"Don't just stand there, you idiots;" he yelled. "Take her down!"

As the soldiers open fired, 0014 raised her right arm and out spiraled a large shield that deflected all the shots. As the shield spiraled back into her arm, 0014 glanced back at the Captain. "Alright," she said, "my turn."

0014 then bolted towards the soldiers. Before she made contact, the young girl snapped her arms outwards and out sprung a blade that stretched from her elbows to her wrists. While avoiding the shots, 0014 slashed and destroyed every weapon in her sight until none of the soldiers had a working weapon between them. As she came to a stop, 0014 retracted her blades and said smugly, "Now then, who's next?"

With that, all the soldiers dropped what was left of their weapons and scrambled to get as far away from 0014 as possible, despite the Captain's protest.

"Looks like I'll have to deal with you myself!" He sneered as he pointed his gun at the young girl.

"For your sake, I hope you're a better challenge than they were." She said as she started walking towards the Captain. Every shot he fired, 0014 effortlessly dodged until he stopped firing and looked at her in frustration and panic.

"I'm guessing you're down to your last shot." 0014 said, raising her left arm. "Me, on the other hand, I've got plenty to spare." The young girl then clenched her hand into a fist and a long drill sprang out from her wrist that she aimed at the Captain. "You should choose your next move carefully."

"No," he replied, pointing his gun back at Albert, "_you_ should! There's no way I'm going to let a cyborg as important as you escape the Testing Grounds!"

Suddenly, something knocked the Captain's gun out of his hand and then he was slammed head first against the wall. Seconds later, Dimitri appeared in front of the Captain and said, "You're starting to make me feel a little unappreciated here."

"How did you do that?" Joe said.

"You and 002 aren't the only ones with an acceleration mode."

As Jet got back on his feet and rushed over to Albert's side, 0014 shoved Dimitri out of her way and glared down at the Captain.

"Now, you listen closely to me;" She began. "You're going to let us all leave this place. And if you even try to stop us," suddenly, 0014's drill started to glowing bright blue then it fired a single shot that just missed his head. "The next shot I fire will go right through your mouth! But, just to make double sure you don't try anything," the young girl then retracted her drill and activated her shield, that she slammed into the Captain's head, knocking him out cold.

"_Caramba_, now I see why she's nicknamed 'The Goddess of Blood'." Carlos murmured as he and the rest of the team rushed over to help the struggling German. 0014 looked over at where everyone was headed and the hard gaze in her eyes immediately softened into a worried glance as she ran over to Albert's side as well.

"What happened to him? Is he alright?" She asked, placing her hand on his shoulder, her once sturdy and smug voice now sounding very worried.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Albert wheezed as he looked at 0014. Suddenly, the young girl gasped and stumbled backwards in shock.

"0014, what's wrong?" Joe asked.

"I-I'm not really sure. But I feel as if I know him from somewhere." She trembled. The long silence that followed was interrupted by an impatient young Russian, who said loudly, "Can we go now?!"

to be continued

* * *

well there you have it; chapter 3. Again, I apologize if I used any oc's that someone else has already used. I appreciate the comment that followed the last chapter, but again, this is still my first fanfic so please go easy on me


	4. Chapter 4

Project Shadow Ch 4

I guess uploading chapter 4 so quickly makes up for taking so long to upload the last chapter. Actually, this chapter is the reason it took so long to upload chapter 3; part of it was supposed to be in that chapter, but I decided it would be better in this chapter instead. so here's Chapter 4, enjoy.

* * *

"This is absolutely amazing!" Doctor Gilmore said after examining the three new cyborgs in the Dolphin's sick bay.

"What's so amazing about them?" Jet said from the bed opposite them, Albert in the bed next to him.

"Well, to start, 0015 has unbelievably powerful frequency emitters built into both his hands that give him the ability to destroy at will anything on contact."

"Is that how it works?" Carlos said, looking down at his hands.

"And 0022, the jets in his feet allow him to reach speeds of Mach 7, and yet he's incredibly maneuverable."

Dimitri folded his arms and smiled smugly at Jet.

"What's most amazing, though, is 0014's weapons; they're not only specially made for long range and close range offence and defense, but they're surprisingly advanced despite how long she's been a cyborg."

"Well, the scientists have been working on her when they weren't working on us." Dimitri replied.

0014 sat quietly, looking at the floor, something clearly on her mind.

"Hey, 0014," Carlos began, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?" she replied, looking at him.

"The file I read had a lot about you after you became a cyborg, but it had next to nothing about who you were _before_ you became a cyborg. Would you mind filling in the gaps?"

"I-I wish I could, but I was kind of hoping one of you could tell me."

"_¿Qué?_"

"You see, I don't remember anything from my past; my family, my home, I-I can't even remember my real name."

"Doctor Gilmore, can you help her?" Albert asked.

"I'll do everything I can to restore her memory," he answered, "but I can't make any promises."

"Hey, where are we headed, anyway?" Carlos asked.

"We're going to stay with an old friend of mine until things cool down."

Carlos snapped his head towards Doctor Gilmore in shock. Then he said something in Spanish and bolted out of sick bay.

"Where's he off to?" Jet asked.

"Did anyone else not like the look in his eyes?" 0014 said.

"Come on;" Dimitri sighed as he stood up. "We better make sure he doesn't do something that'll get him thrown overboard."

"I doubt there's anything he can do to make that happen." Albert said.

"That's because you don't know how many times he's been run out of his country, or for that matter, how many countries he's been run out of."

* * *

The five found Carlos in the control room, fighting with Pyunma over the ship's steering.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" 0014 yelled, getting everyone's attention. "0015, explain, now!"

"What? Where we're going is way too obvious a place to hide;" Carlos explained. "We need someplace more out of the way to lay low or they'll find us within a couple days. And I know the perfect place to do just that."

"You know, you could have told us that instead of trying to wrestle the steering away from me." Pyunma said, stepping aside and letting Carlos take the wheel.

"Uh, you do know how to work one of these things, right?" 0014 asked cautiously.

"How hard could it be?" Carlos replied as he jerked the wheel hard, tossing everyone off balance. Pyunma had grabbed the back of the chair Carlos was sitting in to keep from getting thrown around, but Chang and GB were both being tossed around too much to do anything. In the panic, Francoise wrapped her arms around Joe's neck for support that wasn't there. In a desperate attempt to stay upright, Jet and Dimitri got airborne but were slammed into the wall when Geronimo toppled into the both of them.

"We're all going to die!" 0014 shrieked as she grabbed the closest thing to her.

"_Chert poberi_, CARLOS," Dimitri yelled as he pulled himself out from behind Geronimo, "even out this stupidly named ship!"

"All right, all right!" Carlos said. "Just give me a minute!"

After several corkscrews and nosedives, the young Spaniard was able to level out the Dolphin. "There, are you happy?" He said.

"I will be once I regain my footing." Dimitri groaned as he and the others tried to stand up.

"For all our sakes, I hope we get there soon." Jet added.

"Don't worry," Carlos replied, "if this thing is flies as fast as I think it does, we'll be there in no ti-_ay caramba_!"

"What?" GB said.

"_Alguien aquí trabaja rápido_."

"Carlos, no one here speaks Spanish!" Dimitri groaned.

"I said, 'somebody here works fast'." He said as he pointed at 0014. The team looked over and stared in shock at the young girl. Jet's face turned dark red and GB, Chang and Dimitri did their best not to laugh at what they saw. 0014 couldn't figure out why everyone was staring at her until she looked at what she had grabbed onto. 0014's face turned bright red as she realized that she had wrapped her arms around Albert's waist. The young girl yelped and quickly let go of him, a look of terror in her eyes.

"I-um-I'm sorry!" she stuttered. "I-I didn't mean to-I mean, I-I didn't know that-GAAAAHHH!"

The young girl bolted out of the control room grabbing the back of her head, whimpering. Albert found her again later in the Dolphin's break-room, sitting down on the couch, clutching her arms.

"Are you alright?" He asked, causing 0014 to flinch away from him. "Hey, it's ok," he continued as he sat next to her, "I just want to see how you were doing after that little air show 0015 did."

"W-well, I'm fine." 0014 said, not looking at Albert. "Thank you for asking. Look, 004, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to grab onto you; I just-"

"It's alright, you panicked; I understand…you know, it's doesn't make much sense."

"What?" 0014 asked, finally looking at him.

"That someone as sweet and timid as you would be nicknamed 'The Goddess of Blood'."

"Well, it doesn't make sense for someone as nice and gentle as you to be called 'The God of Death'."

Her response caught Albert's attention. "How did you know I was nicknamed 'The God of Death'?"

"I-I don't know; it just came to mind! I didn't mean to say it! I'm-I'm sorry!"

0014 clutched her arms tighter as her head sank low into her shoulders. It took Albert a moment to realize that she was crying.

"What is wrong with me?" She whimpered. "Why can't I remember anything? Why is this happening to me?"

Albert placed his arms around 0014 and pulled her closer to him. Then, to his surprise, her tense body immediately relaxed to his touch. "It's ok," he whispered, letting her rest her head on his chest, "we'll do everything we can to help get your memory back…I promise."

Albert felt 0014 shift her arms so that one hand was resting on his chest, just beside her head, and the other was just touching the hand he had placed on her shoulder. Albert held 0014 calmly, not saying anything; only listening to her breathing. The calmness of the moment was destroyed by the sound of Jet clearing his throat.

"If I'm not interrupting anything," he said as Albert quickly let go of the young girl in his arms, "0015 says we're almost there."

* * *

After a rough landing and a long walk through a dense forest, the group found themselves in front of a large, old looking house that looked as if it would collapse at any moment.

"You can't be serious." Dimitri said. "We're going to be staying in this _plotva motelʹ?!_"

"This place might look like a 'roach motel' on the outside," Carlos said, "but the inside is a different story."

The young Spaniard opened the door and, true to his word, everything inside looked completely different; the wallpaper was bright and smooth, the carpet was clean and tidy, even the lighting and furniture looked new.

"How can a house that looks so lousy on the outside look so new on the inside?" GB said.

"Well, you didn't think we would make our safe houses recently lived in, did you?" Carlos replied.

"'We'?" 0014 asked.

"_Vamonose_, I'll give you a tour of the place."

After the tour, and a long debate on who was sleeping where (one of which turned into an argument between Jet and Dimitri and then a fist fight that 0014 and Albert had to break up), everyone began settling in; everyone except 0014, who spent all afternoon and much of her evening outside, alone, staring off into space until Albert came out and placed his hand on her shoulder. When 0014 flinched at his touch, Albert couldn't help but chuckle.

"You know, you're kind of jumpy for someone called 'The Goddess of Blood'." He said.

"You're not going to let that name go, are you?" 0014 grumbled.

"Not likely. What have you been doing out here?"

"Trying to make sense of what little I do remember."

"I thought you said you couldn't remember anything."

"I can't; my past is a blank, but I can remember feelings, emotions. Some of them are stronger than others."

"What feelings are those?"

"Fear. Sadness. Comfort." 0014 started gripping her arms. "Fear in particular is the strongest of those three. Do you think I'm better off not remembering who I really am?"

Albert wrapped his arm around 0014's shoulders and the gesture immediately caused her to relax. "What do you think feels right?"

"I-I don't know." She sighed. "I just know something good had to have happened to me; I wouldn't want to remember it so badly otherwise."

"Excuse me," said the voice of the young American in the window sill, "if you two aren't busy, it's dinner time."

"Should I be worried?" 0014 asked, pulling herself away from Albert.

"Only if _he_ made it." Albert chuckled.

* * *

i"004, wake up!"i a voice called in Albert's head. It didn't take him long to figure out who it was.

"001, you better have a good reason for waking me up." He groaned as he rubbed his eyes.

i"It's 0014;"i immediately, Albert bolted upright. i"She's clearly having a nightmare, but I can't wake her up; whenever I try to, she pushes me out, it's as if she wants to be having this nightmare. But her brainwaves tell me that she's really scared."i

Albert ran into the room 0014 was sleeping in and sure enough, she was tossing and turning in bed, whimpering, her face showing fear.

"0014." He said, shaking her shoulder. "0014 wake up!"

The young girl shrieked as her eyes snapped open and she bolted upright, breathing heavily, a look of complete terror in her eyes.

"_Leégett az egész_." 0014 whispered.

"What? 0014, what happened; 001 said you were having a nightmare, but you refused to let him wake you up from it, why?"

"Everything in it, everything I saw, it looked so familiar. I thought if I continued through it I might remember who I am." 0014 wrapped her arms around Albert and held on tightly. "But every minute of it was nothing but terror; I was scared to see what might happen next."

Albert wrapped his arms around the crying girl and felt her quickly relax in his arms. In the room next to them, Jet listened as Albert said what he could to try and calm her down, and the thought that his closest friend might be drifting away from him crossed his mind. "No." He said to himself, shaking his head. "Albert would never do that…would he?"

to be continued

* * *

and there's Chapter 4 uploaded. I hope you liked it.


	5. Chapter 5

Project Shadow Ch 5

Man I'm writing these chapters fast. At the request of a fan, I've added a little more 'Carlos comedy' in this chapter (I was going to sooner of later but irregardless). So, here it is; Chapter 5. Enjoy.

* * *

When Carlos was sent to look the other two cyborgs, he found Dimitri in the den, slouched on the couch. "It's been 8…months since I was last in Russia." He groaned.

"I know, I know." The young Spaniard said as he closed the door behind him. "3 weeks since we escaped the Testing Grounds, and _you're_ the only one who hasn't settled in yet, 0022."

"That's not true; 0014 hasn't settled in yet. And why have you been calling me by my cyborg name lately; I thought we agreed that we'd call each other by our real names to remind ourselves that we were once human!"

"That was before I found out 0014 couldn't even remember her name; if for no other reason, it makes her feel better."

"Why are you really here; because I know it's not to lecture me on how to make a girl who can't remember anything feel better."

"Well, to be blunt, 006 sent me to let you know that lunch is almost ready."

"Alright," Dimitri sighed as he stood up, "Tell him I'll be right down."

"_Gracias._" Carlos said as he turned to leave. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to know where 0014 is, would you?"

"Teh, where do you think; the same place she always is."

"Still?"

"She hasn't moved from that spot since breakfast."

"_Caramba_, I wonder why she's always out there?"

"Who knows with that oddball?"

* * *

In the kitchen, the team couldn't help but listen in on Carlos and Dimitri's conversation.

"I told you there was something weird about that girl." GB said.

"She's going through a lot; more than any of us ever have." Albert said.

"What could she possibly be going through? She doesn't remember anything!" Jet yelled.

"Exactly; her past was taken away from her and what she can remember is making her wonder if she wants to."

"Still, you have to admit, a lot of what they said was true." Joe said.

The team could only agree with the Japanese teenager. It had been 3 weeks since they found the three of them. Because it was his safe house, Carlos settled in almost instantly. The rest of the team settled in after a few days, but Dimitri refused to and 0014 kept tossing aside the chance; she just spent most of her time outside, staring off into space. Occasionally, she would grab at her chest as if something was there.

Although there wasn't anything for her to tell, Carlos and Dimitri had opened up a fair amount since they escaped; before the Black Ghost Organization found him, cyborg 0015, Carlos Hernandez, was a Spanish street gambler who ran away from home to get rich. He and his partner, Tulio, have gambled in almost every European mainland country and several Asian countries, including Japan. Because they would for one reason or another get run out of town by angry gamblers (or sometimes even out of country), the two of them had safe houses made almost everywhere to stay in until the heat was off.

Cyborg 0022, Dimitri Sokolov, grew up on the cold, cruel streets of St. Petersburg, Russia for most of his life. After his abusive father died, his mother was unable to take care of both of them, so she abandoned him to the streets and left St. Petersburg when he was 7 years old. Since then, Dimitri has relied on his wits to survive, getting into and out of trouble, picking pockets, ducking police, and sleeping wherever he can; in alleyways, under bridges, in abandoned buildings, and if he's lucky, he sneaks into the Winter Palace after it closes.

0014 keeps saying that she still can't remember anything, but Albert knows better; since she escaped with them, the young girl has had nightmares and each time, she refused to have Ivan wake her up. She never told anyone about her nightmares and even though he knew about them, Albert never pushed her to tell. However, he couldn't stop wondering what she said on the first night; _leégett az egész. _He quickly discarded the thought when she and the boys walked into the kitchen. It was amazing how much they looked like normal teenagers in ordinary street clothes; Carlos wore a forest green sleeveless t-shirt and stone grey khakis. Dimitri had on a jeans jacket over his grey shirt as well as black pants. 0014 wore white long sleeved turtle-neck, long blue jeans and had her hair tied back with a red scarf. As the three of them sat down, Chang placed their food in front of them…which they couldn't identify.

"006, did something crawl in your pan and get fried?" Dimitri said.

"I said the exact same thing when I saw what he was making." Carlos said before 0014 smacked both of them upside the head. "Boys, don't be rude." Although she spent most of her time outside and alone, 0014 had taken charge of keeping the boys in line, and both knew better than to argue with her.

"Yes, ma'am." Both said. After 3 weeks, both Carlos and Dimitri had all but lost their native accents (although Dimitri refused to admit it).

"Hmm, not bad." Dimitri said after taking a bite. "It actually tastes like chicken."

Carlos then paused before taking a bite and looked over at the young Russian. "_¿Qué?_" He said.

"Why does that surprise you?" GB asked.

"Because we don't keep any meat in storage; we always bring it from wherever we've been run out of. Otherwise it quickly spoils and turns our safe houses into actual roach motels."

Everyone froze mid bite and looked at Chang.

"If it's not chicken, then what is it?" 0014 asked cautiously.

"Well," Chang began, "since there wasn't any meat among the provisions, I looked around the forest and found a few pit vipers to cook."

"What?!" GB said as he dropped his fork.

"Pit vipers?!" Dimitri yelled, pushing his plate away from him.

"SWEET!" Carlos said as he dug into his plate. 0014 then shrieked as she bolted out of her chair and plastered herself against the wall.

"What's with you?" Dimitri asked.

"I-I-I j-j-just rem-m-membered something;" 0014 trembled. "I'm d-d-deathly afraid of snakes!"

"You're kidding right?"

"I-I think I'll skip lunch. I'll be outside." She murmured as she stepped out of the kitchen.

"Hey, are you going to eat your snake?" Carlos asked before she closed the door.

"Hard to believe that's the same girl who helped us escape the Testing Grounds." Jet said.

"_Da_, it's easy to forget why she's called 'The Goddess of Blood'." Dimitri said before 0014 fired a shot through the door that shattered his glass, causing him to yelp in surprise. "Then, of course, she quickly reminds us why."

"You know she doesn't like being called that." Albert said. "I'm going to go check on her."

As Albert left the kitchen, Jet couldn't help but cringe. He wasn't sure if anyone else noticed, but Albert spent much of his time with 0014. He claimed that it was just because he knew she needed someone to be there for her, but Jet had seen over and over how 0014 relaxed to his touch. And each time, Jet not only got more and more scared that Albert was drifting farther away from him, but got more and more angry that 0014 was the one pulling him away. Of course, Dimitri, who was sitting across from him, noticed Jet cringe. The young Russian knew about the friction building in Jet, and he also knew how to get under his skin about it. He decided he'd do just that after lunch.

"Hey, 0022, are you going to eat that?" Carlos asked.

Dimitri stared at Carlos, then at the two empty plates in front of him.

"You ate both yours _and_ 0014's?!" He said.

"Of course I did, snakes are delicious; especially poisonous ones."

"Whatever, _skhodit__ʹ__ s uma_." Dimitri sighed as he pushed his plate towards Carlos.

"'Go nuts'? Don't mind if I do." Carlos said as he dug into Dimitri's plate.

"Ach, Spaniards." He murmured.

* * *

Albert found 0014 in her usual spot outside, her left arm was wrapped around her stomach, and her right hand was covering her eyes. She was muttering something under her breath as she usually did, something Albert couldn't understand; however, sometimes he would catch words like _menekülés_, _halál_, or _kapocs_, although he didn't know what they meant.

"Where do you keep hearing those words from?" He asked.

"I don't know." 0014 said, looking up at him. "They just keep coming to me every now and then."

"How are you doing?"

"I was fine until I found out what we were having for lunch."

"Although I was surprised and a little amused to learn that you're scared of snakes, even when they're dead, I wasn't asking about that."

0014 wrapped both her arms around her stomach and looked back down; she knew full well what Albert meant. "Part of me is scared to go to sleep," she said, "but part of me knows it might be the only way for me to remember. I know everyone's doing what they can to help, but I'm getting desperate, and that's making me even more scared."

Albert placed his hand on 0014's outer shoulder and felt as she once again relaxed to his touch.

"0014, I've never told anyone about them, nor have I had a reason to pry anything out of you," he said, "but now, I think you should tell me, at least, what you've been seeing in your nightmares."

0014 opened her mouth, however, before she could speak, a loud crash came from inside, catching both their attention.

"Oh, what now?" She grumbled as she and Albert rushed inside. Both walked in and found Jet flying circles around Dimitri, who was screaming at him in Russian and trying to swat him out of the air with a baseball bat. Carlos, GB, and Chang were all watching from the behind the safety of the kitchen door, Carlos snickering at the two of them.

"Dare I ask?" 0014 said after she and Albert had worked their ways toward the group watching the fight.

"I don't know what started the argument," Carlos replied, "but the fight started after 0022 snapped at 002 for calling him a 'pathetic excuse for an amateur flyboy'."

"Where did he even get that bat from?" Albert asked.

"Oh, please, that's not even the most dangerous thing I have here."

"I won't ask what is."

"Wise choice."

"How long have you been watching those two fight?" 0014 asked.

"Since it started, why?"

"And you didn't do anything about this?"

"Of course I have; I've been taking bets on who's going to win." Carlos said, holding up a small wad of money. "006 and 007 have already betted $400 on 002 winning. Heh, I still say 0022 will literally beat him like a rug."

0014 grabbed Carlos by his shirt collar and dragged him out of the kitchen.

"0015, I'm only going to say this once," she sneered, activating her drill, "break up this fight, or else!"

"Y-yes, ma'am." He gulped. As 0014 let go of him, Carlos worked his way towards the bedrooms and said, "_Un momento, por favor_." After a while, he came back, holding something in his hand.

"You might want to cover your ears." He said as he held up the air horn he was holding and pressed the trigger. Immediately, Dimitri dropped the bat as he and Jet crashed to the ground, both clutching their heads desperately until Carlos took his hand off the trigger.

"What the hell are you trying to do, blow our heads off?!" Jet yelled.

"_Chert poberi_, why do you even have that?!" Dimitri groaned.

"Eh, you never know when you might need one." Carlos replied.

At that moment, Joe came out of one of the bedrooms, strangely, wearing his cyborg uniform, and headed outside.

"Where are you headed off to, 009?" 0014 asked.

"I'm going out for a moment." Joe replied.

"Joe," Francoise said from the kitchen door, "is everything alright?"

"I'm not sure; I can't explain it, but I feel as if there's something out there, something dangerous. I'm going to go check it out."

"Be careful."

"Do you really think there's something out there?" 0014 asked Carlos after Joe left.

"Doubtful;" he replied. "This is our most isolated safe house; the closest civilization is about 60 miles from here. As far as we know of, no one else knows about this place."

"I wouldn't count on that;" Chang said as he and the others came out of the kitchen. "While I was out looking for lunch, I felt as if someone was watching me."

"I felt the same thing this morning." GB said.

"So did I last night." Francoise said.

"Has anyone else?" 0014 asked.

"Yeah, I've been getting that feeling since yesterday." Pyunma said. "I went to the Dolphin to scan the area, but the radar didn't pick up anything."

"Well, I haven't felt anything these past 3 weeks." Jet said.

"Me neither." Albert said.

"Nor have I." Geronimo said. "However, I have been sensing uneasiness upon the land for some time."

"What about 001?" 0014 asked.

"Well, if he has, he's not going to tell us;" Dimitri replied. "He's been sleeping for the entire week straight."

"And I'm afraid it will be another week before 001 wakes up." Doctor Gilmore said.

0014 glanced over at Carlos and noticed an uneasy look in eyes. "0015," she began, "is there something you'd like to share with us?"

"As a matter of fact, there is." He admitted. "And 0022 does as well."

"Hey, why are you getting me involved in this?!" Dimitri complained.

"Because it has to do with what we were often told back at the Testing Grounds."

Dimitri stared at the young Spaniard with widened eyes. Then his entire body cringed as he said a curse in Russian. "Oh, you mean _that_." He mused.

"Hold on, what are you two talking about?" Jet asked.

"Back at the Testing Grounds, every time the soldiers put us back in our cells, they always said the same thing to us." Carlos said.

"And what exactly did they say to you two?" Doctor Gilmore asked.

"'No matter what, you are nothing more than shadows'."Dimitri replied.

"And that's not all;" Carlos said, looking at 0014. "When I was looking over her file, it mentioned that 0014 was the first of nine cyborgs, which I think included the two of us, created for something called-"

"Project Shadow." 0014 finished as everything looked at her confused. "The information was implanted into me while I was cryogenically frozen. But I'm afraid I don't know much more than you do, 0015-" The young girl then paused suddenly mid-sentence, her eyes completely blank for a moment, then changed to a look of horror as she softly gasped.

"0014, what's wrong?" Albert asked.

"I was the first of nine cyborgs created for Project Shadow." She trembled.

"_Da_, so?" Dimitri said.

"If you look at our numbers, there are six of us missing."

"I've often wondered about that." Carlos said. "What are you trying to say?"

"Everyone else for the past few days has been getting the feeling that they're being watched except 002, 004, and 005."

"GET TO THE POINT ALREADY, WOMAN!" Dimitri snapped.

"They've all found us!" 0014 snapped back. "Project Shadow has begun!"

An eerie silence fell upon the group as they realized the truth in her words. Suddenly, another realization occurred to them; an unspoken communication passed through the entire team as they all looked at one another and then said in unison, "009!"

to be continued

* * *

For those of you who are wondering about the snake-tasting-like-chicken part, it's based off the fact that, as I was told, chicken tastes like rattlesnake (as it was so cleverly put to me). I'd like to take this time to thank my biggest fan, Antigone97, for the comments and for not only being a devoted follower, but a great source of motivation when I needed it. So Antigone97, if you're reading this (and I know you are), thanks.


	6. Chapter 6

Project Shadow Ch 6

Sorry it took so long; the rehearsals for my high school's musical, made it hard to work on this, and the writers block didn't help much either. But now that the musical is done (Footloose, if anyone is wondering), I finally was able to get around to finishing this chapter. So here's Chapter 6, enjoy

* * *

"This doesn't make any sense." 0014 said, looking down at the radar given to her. "I thought this was supposed to make it easier to find 009, but I'm not picking up anything."

"It is;" Albert said. "Something must be disrupting the signal."

"If that's so, it'll be harder to find him then."

"Jet, are you having any luck up there?"

"No such." The young American replied from the air into his communicator. "I don't see him anywhere. Maybe he's in acceleration mode."

"For what reason would he be using his accelerator?" 0014 said.

"Hey, it was just a suggestion!" Jet then snapped.

"Don't get snippy with me, boy;" 0014 snapped back. "I get enough of that from 0022!"

"'Boy'?! You're practically my age!"

"Alright, that's enough, you two." Albert said. "Jet, you head back and rendezvous with the others. 0014 and I will be along shortly."

As Jet flew off in a huff, Albert noticed 0014 pulling at her collar. "Ehr, I've forgotten how uncomfortable this uniform is." She said.

"You'll get used to it." Albert chuckled as he helped 0014 readjust her scarf. "Of course, it also helps to have it on correctly."

"Thank you." The young girl said, although she was more focused on the direction Jet had flown. "Why does he always act that way around me?"

"I'm honestly as confused as you are; I've never once seen Jet act like this with anyone before."

"004, can I ask you something a little personal?"

"Only if I get to ask _you_ something personal when you're done."

"Why do you always call 002, Jet?"

"That's his real name; Jet Link."

"But why do you?"

"Well, Jet's one of the younger ones of us to have been made into a cyborg and to have been cryogenically frozen."

"But isn't 003 the same age as him, and wasn't she cryogenically frozen too?"

"Yeah, but she has 009, Jet doesn't have anyone but me; I call him by his real name because it makes him feel better, even if no one else will."

"Is that why he calls you Albert?"

"Yes; my real name is Albert Heinrich." At that point, the German had finished readjusting 0014's uniform. "Now it's my turn; what have you been seeing in your nightmares?"

0014 looked deep into Albert's pale blue eyes and saw a great amount of concern for her. At the same time, Albert saw a great amount of fear in 0014's brown eyes.

"It was the same thing every night;" she began. "I'm in a place surrounded by a barbed wire fence filled with seemingly endless lines of cabins. In the daytime, the skies are usually gray, at night, it's often storming. But it didn't matter what the sky looked like; my skin still felt so cold. A lot of the people there are almost lifeless, ghostly, scared, some can barely even stand. Those who aren't are heartless, terrifying, and merciless towards those who aren't like them."

"What do you mean?" Albert interrupted.

0014 was silent for a moment, then answered, "Those who either don't look like them or the way they're supposed to look, those who didn't believe in what they did, those who…those who they thought didn't belong. I often heard the sound of gunshots, the sound of people screaming in fear, or in pain, or for help. I sometimes see black smoke billowing into the sky from somewhere and sometimes, I can even smell what I think is burning flesh;" 0014 wrapped her arms around her stomach and shuddered. "I always feel sick to my stomach when I do, as if I know what it is. I see faces that I somehow know I should be afraid of. They keep saying the same things to me in a language that I can barely understand but can understand enough of."

"What do they say?" Albert asked, his concern for 0014 growing. The young girl took a shaky breath before answering. "Things like, I'm nothing, I don't belong, it won't be long now, my turn will come soon, and…and…and that I'll soon be dead as well." The last part she said barely above a whisper. Albert reached out to put his hand on 0014's shoulder to comfort the trembling girl. "Last night, though, was different." She continued before he could touch her.

"Different how?" Albert said, pulling back his hand. 0014 clutched her stomach harder and tightly closed her eyes. Her face twisted into both fear and sadness.

"I was in that same place, under that same sky, surrounded by those same people, those same smells, those same sounds, those same faces telling me the same things, my skin colder than ever. I was curled up on the ground, clutching the back of my head, crying, shivering, begging for it all to stop." Tears rolled down 0014's face as she recalled her nightmare. Then she opened her eyes and looked back up at Albert. "Then I felt someone wrap their arms around me. I looked up and I saw a boy, about my age, I think. I couldn't see his face clearly, but I could tell he was important, at least to me. He pulled me closer to him and for the first time, I felt safe, calm, warm, all the sounds and smells around me seemed to vanish. The place I was in and the people around me didn't seem as intimidating as before. I wasn't bothered by what those familiar faces said to me. When that boy held me in his arms, I felt protected from my own nightmare. He then placed something in my hand; something small, round, and cold like metal. Then he gently whispered to me in a language I could understand as clear as crystal, 'its ok, everything will be alright; I promise'…then I was someplace completely different, I don't know where though; it was too dark for me to see. I heard a loud explosion and that boy disappeared. My entire body felt like it was burning, it hurt so much. I was sure I was going to pass out from the pain but before I did, I saw two people wearing black who I didn't recognize looking down at me. The last thing I remember before I woke up was those two men exchanging looks, then one said to the other, 'she'll do perfectly'."

When she finished, 0014 saw Albert look down at, then rub his machine gun hand; something that, as she had found out long ago, he only did when something was really bothering him.

"You know who they are, don't you?" the young girl said after taking the German's metal hand in her own.

"In a sense, I do;" he sighed. "They're the ones who took us all away from our lives to be made into cyborgs."

"I'm guessing that included you?"

Albert tightly closed his eyes for a moment then answered, "Actually, I didn't have much of anything left when they found me."

Before 0014 could ask what he meant, Dimitri's voice came through her communicator, and his voice sounded worried.

"Guys, I think I found him." The young Russian said. "He's at the forest clearing fighting someone in his acceleration mode…and losing."

"Try and help him anyway you can; we'll be there soon." Albert said.

"Hey, 0015, you wouldn't happen to know where that is, would you?" 0014 asked.

"I know where it is," Carlos replied, "but you don't. And I don't know where you are."

"But I do;" Francoise said. "It's about half a mile from your location, and you, 004 and 002 are the closest ones."

"002 flew off to the rendezvous point." 0014 said.

"I'm not too far from the clearing." Jet replied. "I should get there to help before you two."

"Be careful, Jet." Albert said. "Don't do anything stupid."

"That goes triple for you, 0022." 0014 growled. "And focus on fighting the attacker, _not_ 002, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am." Dimitri replied.

"You don't trust 0022 that much, do you?" Albert said after 0014 turned off her communicator.

"Alone with 002?" she replied. "Not a chance, especially not after the fight those two had today."

Albert couldn't help but chuckle at 0014's response as he placed his hand on her shoulder and felt her stress melt away at his touch.

"Come on, we'd better go help 009." He said as he started to walk off.

"Mmm, right." 0014 nodded. "Oh, and 004, for the record, I think your real name suits you much better than your cyborg name."

Albert looked back at her in surprise; it was the first time 0014 had said something _about_ him rather than _to_ him, in fact, it was the first time she said anything about anyone on the team. The now red faced girl slowly made her way towards him, too nervous to look him in the eye, and all Albert could do was smile at her and say, "Thank you."

* * *

The large craters, destroyed trees, and shattered rocks they found when they arrived at the forest clearing were obvious signs that a fight had occurred. Unfortunately, when they arrived, 0014 realized something important.

"Albert," she began, "how are we going to help 009 if we can't even see him? In fact, how do we even know if he's still fighting his attacker here, or if 002 or 0022 are here helping him?"

Suddenly as if on cue, Jet was thrown out of his acceleration mode as if struck by an invisible force and slammed headfirst into a fallen tree. Albert quickly rushed over to the dazed teenager's side, 0014 following close behind him.

"Jet, what happened?!" Albert said.

"He's so fast;" Jet groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't even see him coming."

"Didn't see who coming? Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine once I stop seeing double."

"You must have hit your head pretty hard for that to happen." 0014 said as she reached out to feel for any bumps on Jet's head. Suddenly as her right knee touched the ground, her entire body tensed up.

"What's with you?" Jet asked.

"Shh!" 0014 exclaimed, putting her right hand on the ground, closing her eyes.

"Hey, don't you give me that when I'm talking to you; especially when my head's throbbing!"

"002, seriously, be quiet!" The firmness in her voice made Jet quiet down. Moments later, 0014 snapped her head to one side and activated her drill. Then she quickly relaxed and grunted in frustration.

"What is it?" Albert asked. Before she could answer, 0014's body tensed up again then she fired a single shot behind her. Seconds later, Dimitri tumbled out of his acceleration mode with a surprised yelp and rolled head-over-heels several times before coming to a stop, his right leg smoking and sparking.

"What happened?" The young Russian groaned as he tried vainly to stand.

"Am I still hallucinating, or did 0014 just shoot 0022 out of his acceleration mode?" Jet gawked.

"Whoops." She said nervously.

"'WHOOPS'?!" Dimitri yelled. "You shot out my leg, my jet, and my ability to fly, and all you can say is 'whoops'?!"

"How did you even know where he was?" Albert said.

"I could hear the fight happening around me." 0014 mused. "I can't explain how or why, but every movement they made I could feel."

"Can you find them again?"

"I'll try."

"This time, try and hit the right person." Dimitri said as he crawled over to the others.

"Be quiet, 0022," 0014 replied as she put her hand back on the ground and closed her eyes, "I can only focus so well."

Moments passed and every now and then, 0014 would snap her head to one side then another until she sighed in frustration and defeat.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, "it's too hard for me to pinpoint 009's attacker."

"Well, what do you need to make it easier?" Dimitri asked. At that moment, Joe was slammed out of his acceleration mode against a tree close to them.

"That!" she replied before firing a single shot to her left. Almost instantly, something blue and red streaked past them and stumbled into the bushes.

"Nice shot." Jet said almost impressed.

"No, lousy shot; I missed him, I fired too early."

"It was still enough to throw me off, though." The attacker replied, his voice somewhat Italian sounding. The five of them looked over at where he had landed and saw an 18 year old boy standing up with light brown hair, dark blue eyes, and softly tanned skin. What caught everyone's attention though was that he was wearing the same blue uniform with four red buttons and red scarf as Carlos, Dimitri, and 0014.

"Who the hell are you?" Jet demanded.

"I am 0019;" he replied with a bow. "And you might say that, in a sense, I am 009's shadow."

"Y-you have to be kidding me!" Dimitri exclaimed. "N-N-Nico?! Nico, is that really you?!"

Everyone else looked at the young Russian in shock. "You know him?!" they said.

"Nico Salvai;" Dimitri said. "He was once a prisoner at the Testing Grounds!"

With a smile, Nico put his right arm behind his back, gestured his left arm outward, and with another slight bow, said, "_Buongiorno_, Dimitri. How's Carlos doing?"

to be continued

* * *

Well, plenty of questions answered, so many more brought up; What do 0014's nightmares mean? Who was that boy who was with her? Why wasn't Nico at the Testing Grounds with Carlos and Dimitri? Why didn't they mention anything about Nico before? Where was he all this time? And most importantly, where are the other Shadow Cyborgs? Don't worry, these questions, and possibly more will hopefully be answered soon!


End file.
